I’ve not a clue what I am but I am here now.

And that is all we can ever really sit with.

Very nice…

From what was read I think I see that 100% brain capacity is indeed not useful to this.

I’m still dazzled to see that I’m not the body to begin with, so to see this then what use is the brain to be attached to it so dearly. I’ve not a clue what I am but I am here now.

I suppose it has just become another form of fun or entertainment. The searches and the quests have become another thing to do.

It is all so simple, and we say this over and over. But the curse of the search is such that the first thing the seeker does is tries to find a way to make it simple. “Yes, that sounds right. It is simple. Now I am going to find a way to make it simple, or else!”

It is for you to find out, of course!

I want my behavior and perception to no longer be filtered through the story.

There you go. That is your work, right there. Unravel the mysteries hidden in that one statement and you may end up blinding yourself to this phenomenal world.

But don’t trust Takuin! Go, go, go…

I have seen studies where brain function spread out and the hemispheres became synchronized in a transcended or samadhi state.

I have always found those studies to be interesting, although it is of no real use for this. But I do enjoy those programs that take a scientific look into these things. Akiko and I both.

The brain can be such a mysterious device.

Many people step out of their limitations in distinct steps or stages. Thus consciousness can seem to have levels or states. But really, it is more the state of the person in reflecting consciousness rather than a state of consciousness itself.

Yes. One can really only see these things as steps in hindsight, through the memory of the event. But that is really for someone else to manage…I suppose there will always be someone somewhere writing it down to solidify it into a system.

Have a good retreat!

The object being the path and I being the person treading such path. It is both the implication of the object and what is beyond the object, that makes transcending a possibility.

I think I understand what you are saying here. The main difficulty may be the implication of what is beyond. What is beyond cannot be known in the regular sense of that word.

If I read you correctly, you are saying one needs the path and also the knowledge of what one is searching for. Or in other words, one needs the search, along with the understanding of the thing being sought. Is that what you mean?

If that is what you mean, I can see little use in that. It puts the thing sought into a fixed position. Or we might say, we search for whatever we believe to be there. It is not fluid or alive.

The seeker puts these things into fixed positions because it feels itself as a permanent thing in a fixed position. If the seeker is fixed then it may have some hope of dealing with whatever it feels is fixed elsewhere, forcing its way into whatever state suits its sense of self.

But I wonder…where is the seeker doing all of this work?

The search is also built from the ideals we select as desirable. We read or hear an ‘enlightened’ one speak, but all we can do is verbally or mentally crystallize the state he or she speaks of. Then, we begin our search for the thing we have imagined it to be, which is not the thing at all.

But I may have misunderstood your comments completely. It is not my place to say one is right or wrong with any of this anyway. It is not good or bad, better or worse. But anything that moves us away from what we are, in hopes of something better, is highly suspicious. (I am not speaking of physical improvements we may see from day to day.)

Though, the question is really, and most fundamentally, are our paths pre destined or pre concieved? Fate is inexorable. In my opinion we are all caught in a web looking for a way to either escape the web, or manipulate our web to our own benefit.

You’ve raised something very important. Who is doing all of this escaping or manipulating? You’ve described very clearly the problems of this shuffling self; the person never satisfied, always wanting more or less through escape or manipulation.

It is something so very difficult for the seeker because it is easy for him to think he’ll be able to out-seek his difficulties if only he can learn how to do it right. There is a lot of money to be made as a teacher in that field.

You’ve raised many great points James, and I’m glad you took the time to post your thoughts here. Remember, I am not saying you are right or wrong in this. It is just an exploration of the words we have in front of us.

Life, truth, love, enlightenment and so on are truly very simple to achieve. It is like the line “I want peace”. Remove the “I” and remove the “want” and you have peace. The state of being enligtened is already within us all, we just have covered up it with so called human issues and problems.

Every body will have a different answer, I suspect. For my self, I just want to be genuine. I have had enough experience with Stillness, and insights through sitting, to realize that I am not my history. Yet it still runs my life to a great degree. Lotta momentum there! (laughs) I want my behavior and perception to no longer be filtered through the story. Of course all this begs to know why I believe this particular existential conceptualization of reality in the first place. That’s for another thousand words somewhere else.

I’ll keep asking the question, though I fear it may only be another delaying tactic of the mind/ego.

As for the brain, I am of the opinion that its only function in awakening is to get the hell out of the way. “Stand aside boy, you’re impeding progress!” One cannot transcend an illusion with the illusion. Thoughts cannot take you beyond thoughts.

Great questions. Too bad there are no answers. But I guess that’s the allure, right?